Needing help on reviewing specs of my 2nd ever tower, budget £1600ish

[NHSynthonicOrchestra]

Hi everyone, like the title states, i'm building my 2nd ever tower, I moved to a laptop for my university studies a few years ago but with it becoming obsolete I'd like to move back to Towers.
I'll mainly be using it for playing video games things like Detriot: Become Human, Elite Dangerous and any newer titles, I also create music so I know it'll have to be Ram and Processor heavy to handle the workload, i'd also like the Tower to last for around 5 years before considering upgrading parts. how are these specs I've planned out:

Case
COOLERMASTER MASTERCASE H500 GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i9 Eight Core Processor i9-9900 (3.1GHz) 16MB Cache
Motherboard
Gigabyte Z390 UD: ATX, LG1151, USB 3.1, SATA 6GBs - RGB Ready
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3000MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 2070 SUPER - HDMI, 3x DP GeForce - RTX VR Ready!
1st Storage Drive
2TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 256MB CACHE
1st M.2 SSD Drive
512GB Intel® H10 NVMe SSD + 32GB Intel® Optane™ (upto 2300MB/sR | 1300MB/sW)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 550W VS SERIES™ VS-550 POWER SUPPLY
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
CoolerMaster Hyper 212X (120mm) Fan CPU Cooler Black Edition
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
LED Lighting
50cm RGB LED Strip
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Wireless/Wired Networking
WIRELESS 802.11N 300Mbps/2.4GHz PCI-E CARD
USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KUK-00001]
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Unlimited Downloads from Online Account
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft® Office® 365 (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Microsoft® Edge (Windows 10 Only)
Warranty
3 Year Standard Warranty (1 Month Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 12 to 15 working days

Any and all help would be appreciated!

 

[NHSynthonicOrchestra]

Spent the hour making an AMD version, i'm not familiar with AMD or ASUS so this build is quite the shot in the dark:

Case
COOLERMASTER MASTERCASE H500 GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 9 3900 12 Core CPU (3.1GHz-4.3GHz/70MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF X570-PLUS GAMING (USB 3.2 Gen 2, PCIe 4.0, CrossFireX) - RGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE RGB PRO DDR4 3200MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 2070 SUPER - HDMI, 3x DP GeForce - RTX VR Ready!
1st Storage Drive
2TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 256MB CACHE
1st M.2 SSD Drive
250GB SAMSUNG 970 EVO PLUS M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 3500MB/R, 2300MB/W)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
NOT REQUIRED
Power Supply
CORSAIR 550W TXm SERIES™ SEMI-MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
PCS FrostFlow 100 V2 Series High Performance CPU Cooler (AMD)
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
LED Lighting
50cm RGB LED Strip
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Wireless/Wired Networking
WIRELESS 802.11N 300Mbps/2.4GHz PCI-E CARD
USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KUK-00001]
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Unlimited Downloads from Online Account
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft® Office® 365 (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Microsoft® Edge (Windows 10 Only)
Warranty
3 Year Standard Warranty (1 Month Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 12 to 15 working days
Welcome Book
PCSpecialist Welcome Book - United Kingdom & Republic of Ireland

 

[Scott]

What monitor are you pairing it with? What resolution/refresh rate? 2070 Super is aimed at very high end 1440p, just not sure if it's a worthwhile outlay. What sort of budget are you looking at and what is the CPU intensive software, is it multi-core software or is it more akin to using high frequency (Hugely important for this sort of build)

Presuming it's fairly modern software that can make use of a number of cores I would consider the following a base, with the option of choosing the most suited CPU within your budget. I've also made lots of assumptions with this build, if you answer the queries above we can try and hone down what would be the best value for money for you...

Case
FRACTAL MESHIFY C BLACK GAMING CASE (Window)
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 7 3700X Eight Core CPU (3.6GHz-4.4GHz/36MB CACHE/AM4)

Get 3 Months of XBOX Game Pass for PC w/ select AMD Ryzen CPUs

The Outer Worlds -OR- Borderlands 3 w/ select AMD Ryzen CPUs
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF X570-PLUS GAMING (USB 3.2 Gen 2, PCIe 4.0, CrossFireX) - RGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3600MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 2070 SUPER - HDMI, 3x DP GeForce - RTX VR Ready!
1st Storage Drive
2TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 256MB CACHE
1st M.2 SSD Drive
500GB SEAGATE FIRECUDA 520 GEN 4 PCIe NVMe (up to 5000MB/R, 2500MB/W)
2nd M.2 SSD Drive
1TB ADATA SX6000 Pro PCIe M.2 2280 (2100 MB/R, 1500 MB/W)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
NOT REQUIRED
Power Supply
CORSAIR 750W RMx SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
PCS FrostFlow 240 Series RGB High Performance Liquid Cooler
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Wireless/Wired Networking
WIRELESS INTEL® Wi-Fi 6 AX200 2,400Mbps/5GHz, 300Mbps/2.4GHz PCI-E CARD + BT 5.0
USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KUK-00001]
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Unlimited Downloads from Online Account
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft® Office® 365 (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
BullGuard™ Internet Security - Free 90 Day License inc. Gamer Mode
Browser
Microsoft® Edge (Windows 10 Only)
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 12 to 15 working days
Price: £1,734.00 including VAT and Delivery

Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am4-gen3-pc/!ya223EYu7/

Note, if you want to move past the 8c/16t CPUs in the AMD lineup you need a much beefier cooler to keep the temps in check. For audio work I don't think any more than 16GB of RAM would be utilised to any degree but, depending on the software, the likes of the 3900X may make a contribution if the budget is there.

 

[NHSynthonicOrchestra]

What monitor are you pairing it with? What resolution/refresh rate? 2070 Super is aimed at very high end 1440p, just not sure if it's a worthwhile outlay. What sort of budget are you looking at and what is the CPU intensive software, is it multi-core software or is it more akin to using high frequency (Hugely important for this sort of build)

Presuming it's fairly modern software that can make use of a number of cores I would consider the following a base, with the option of choosing the most suited CPU within your budget. I've also made lots of assumptions with this build, if you answer the queries above we can try and hone down what would be the best value for money for you...

Case
FRACTAL MESHIFY C BLACK GAMING CASE (Window)
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 7 3700X Eight Core CPU (3.6GHz-4.4GHz/36MB CACHE/AM4)

Get 3 Months of XBOX Game Pass for PC w/ select AMD Ryzen CPUs

The Outer Worlds -OR- Borderlands 3 w/ select AMD Ryzen CPUs
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF X570-PLUS GAMING (USB 3.2 Gen 2, PCIe 4.0, CrossFireX) - RGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3600MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 2070 SUPER - HDMI, 3x DP GeForce - RTX VR Ready!
1st Storage Drive
2TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 256MB CACHE
1st M.2 SSD Drive
500GB SEAGATE FIRECUDA 520 GEN 4 PCIe NVMe (up to 5000MB/R, 2500MB/W)
2nd M.2 SSD Drive
1TB ADATA SX6000 Pro PCIe M.2 2280 (2100 MB/R, 1500 MB/W)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
NOT REQUIRED
Power Supply
CORSAIR 750W RMx SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
PCS FrostFlow 240 Series RGB High Performance Liquid Cooler
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Wireless/Wired Networking
WIRELESS INTEL® Wi-Fi 6 AX200 2,400Mbps/5GHz, 300Mbps/2.4GHz PCI-E CARD + BT 5.0
USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KUK-00001]
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Unlimited Downloads from Online Account
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft® Office® 365 (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
BullGuard™ Internet Security - Free 90 Day License inc. Gamer Mode
Browser
Microsoft® Edge (Windows 10 Only)
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 12 to 15 working days
Price: £1,734.00 including VAT and Delivery

Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am4-gen3-pc/!ya223EYu7/

Note, if you want to move past the 8c/16t CPUs in the AMD lineup you need a much beefier cooler to keep the temps in check. For audio work I don't think any more than 16GB of RAM would be utilised to any degree but, depending on the software, the likes of the 3900X may make a contribution if the budget is there.

Thanks for the reply! i've decided to go for:
Case
COOLERMASTER MASTERCASE H500 GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i7 Eight Core Processor i7-9700K (3.6GHz) 12MB Cache
Motherboard
Gigabyte Z390 UD: ATX, LG1151, USB 3.1, SATA 6GBs - RGB Ready
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3000MHz (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 2070 SUPER - HDMI, 3x DP GeForce - RTX VR Ready!
1st Storage Drive
2TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 256MB CACHE
1st M.2 SSD Drive
512GB Intel® H10 NVMe SSD + 32GB Intel® Optane™ (upto 2300MB/sR | 1300MB/sW)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 650W TXm SERIES™ SEMI-MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
CoolerMaster Hyper 212X (120mm) Fan CPU Cooler Black Edition
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
LED Lighting
50cm RGB LED Strip
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Wireless/Wired Networking
WIRELESS 802.11N 300Mbps/2.4GHz PCI-E CARD
USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KUK-00001]
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Unlimited Downloads from Online Account
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft® Office® 365 (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Google Chrome™

Graphics stay the same, but i've switched to Intel since I know there processors far better than AMD, the RAM i've boosted up to 32GB, the power supply is more than I need but i'd like to future proof the Tower.

 

[SpyderTracks]

but i've switched to Intel since I know there processors far better than AMD

No longer the case, AMD smash intel performance for less money. Intel is the poor choice now.

 

[Scott]

Thanks for the reply! i've decided to go for:
Case
COOLERMASTER MASTERCASE H500 GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i7 Eight Core Processor i7-9700K (3.6GHz) 12MB Cache
Motherboard
Gigabyte Z390 UD: ATX, LG1151, USB 3.1, SATA 6GBs - RGB Ready
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3000MHz (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 2070 SUPER - HDMI, 3x DP GeForce - RTX VR Ready!
1st Storage Drive
2TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 256MB CACHE
1st M.2 SSD Drive
512GB Intel® H10 NVMe SSD + 32GB Intel® Optane™ (upto 2300MB/sR | 1300MB/sW)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 650W TXm SERIES™ SEMI-MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
CoolerMaster Hyper 212X (120mm) Fan CPU Cooler Black Edition
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
LED Lighting
50cm RGB LED Strip
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Wireless/Wired Networking
WIRELESS 802.11N 300Mbps/2.4GHz PCI-E CARD
USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KUK-00001]
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Unlimited Downloads from Online Account
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft® Office® 365 (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Google Chrome™

Graphics stay the same, but i've switched to Intel since I know there processors far better than AMD, the RAM i've boosted up to 32GB, the power supply is more than I need but i'd like to future proof the Tower.

That's not a good choice IMO. At the moment, and specifically for your uses, I would suggest that AMD are in fact far better than Intel. There are only a very niche set of circumstances now where Intel are recommended over AMD.

However, I would have a ponder over some of your choices....

I'm not big on the case, never been a fan of it. I think there are better options, even at similar money, but it depends what your aims with the case are (Silence, cooling, RGB loveliness)
9700K is only 8 threads. Not enough nowadays, even the most basic gaming offering recommended from AMD has 12. If stuck for Intel I would opt for the 9900k which at least has 16 threads for those multi-tasking/multi-thread scenarios
If you think you need 32GB of RAM that's fine, I doubt you will but I can understand your reasoning. I would opt for faster RAM though, considering the minimal price difference. 3200Mhz is the go-to nowadays.
The 2070 is a monster card, you never specified a monitor so unsure if it suits.
The intel choice of storage isn't a good idea at all.
If going for the 650W TXm PSU you are better off with the 750w RXm, it's a better PSU all around and more powerful to boot. Runs silent most of the time and has better components, all for less than £20.
The cooler won't cut the mustard for intensive work. You're going to limit the boosting potential of the chip with that cooler.
The Wifi, if required, should be upgraded to the AX200. The stock option isn't very good and should only be considered for very sparing use.

 

[VenatoS]

Just to add - If you are anything like me and want to game on ultra on modern titles then RTX 2070 might not cut it for 1440p in lets say 2 years.
So that 5 years no upgrade thing you have mentioned will probably not work out.

 

[SpyderTracks]

Just to add - If you are anything like me and want to game on ultra on modern titles then RTX 2070 might not cut it for 1440p in lets say 2 years.
So that 5 years no upgrade thing you have mentioned will probably not work out.

Trying to factor in long term gaming is not a good idea, the first component in gaming that will bottleneck will be the gpu and will always need upgrading soonest. But if you have a good base and case to work with you just upgrade the GPU down the line.

 

[Scott]

Just to add - If you are anything like me and want to game on ultra on modern titles then RTX 2070 might not cut it for 1440p in lets say 2 years.
So that 5 years no upgrade thing you have mentioned will probably not work out.

Unfortunately there's no purchase that can be made right now to guarantee anything for 5 years. All you can do is match, as near as damn it, to what you require just now with an excellent base so that hopefully minimal upgrades are required in the future.

Often people can go 10 years with a system with maybe 1 or 2 GPU upgrades in that time. As said above, the GPU is ALWAYS the limit when sensible choices are made to begin with. 5 years with a 2070 at 1440p isn't out of the question, it just may need some compromise settings wise down the line. The same would be said for the 2080Ti IMO though, so no purchase just now can cover all bases.

 

[VenatoS]

Unfortunately there's no purchase that can be made right now to guarantee anything for 5 years. All you can do is match, as near as damn it, to what you require just now with an excellent base so that hopefully minimal upgrades are required in the future.

Often people can go 10 years with a system with maybe 1 or 2 GPU upgrades in that time. As said above, the GPU is ALWAYS the limit when sensible choices are made to begin with. 5 years with a 2070 at 1440p isn't out of the question, it just may need some compromise settings wise down the line. The same would be said for the 2080Ti IMO though, so no purchase just now can cover all bases.

Well a 2080 TI will deffo last you longer than a 2070 that's all Im saying.
Since he has said "i'd also like the Tower to last for around 5 years before considering upgrading parts" Im understanding it that he wont be doing any upgrading during that time, so if he can afford it I'm suggesting a 2080 Super or a 2080 Ti.

If he could upgrade GPU in the next year or two, then its not really worth with going anthing over 2070 especially if he's gaming at like 1080 or even 1440p.

 

[Scott]

Well a 2080 TI will deffo last you longer than a 2070 that's all Im saying.
Since he has said "i'd also like the Tower to last for around 5 years before considering upgrading parts" Im understanding it that he wont be doing any upgrading during that time, so if he can afford it I'm suggesting a 2080 Super or a 2080 Ti.

If he could upgrade GPU in the next year or two, then its not really worth with going anthing over 2070 especially if he's gaming at like 1080 or even 1440p.

That would be bonkers IMO. If the budget is there for a 2080ti, but the gaming level is 1440p....... pocket the cash for 2 years relent on the 5 year deal and then put it towards an upgrade. Hilariously, the price difference is around £600 so that will buy a 1440p monster in 2 years and STILL have change leftover.

I know it's difficult to comprehend how that all works but genuinely, never ever overspend on the GPU for your fidelity gains. I will always get behind overspending on the Case, PSU, Motherboard, Cooler..... but never anything with "processing" marked in the label.

 

[SpyderTracks]

That would be bonkers IMO. If the budget is there for a 2080ti, but the gaming level is 1440p....... pocket the cash for 2 years relent on the 5 year deal and then put it towards an upgrade. Hilariously, the price difference is around £600 so that will buy a 1440p monster in 2 years and STILL have change leftover.

I know it's difficult to comprehend how that all works but genuinely, never ever overspend on the GPU for your fidelity gains. I will always get behind overspending on the Case, PSU, Motherboard, Cooler..... but never anything with "processing" marked in the label.

It's also the fact that the £600 saved at the moment would buy you top 1440p performance, but within a few years that would be mid 4k performance. The increases in performance you can afford in the future is more valuable that settling for overspecced card now.

For the price of 1 2080ti now, you'll get bundles more performance out of an initial 2070 super now and the relative cost card in the future with all it's improved hardware capabilities and RTX capabilities etc etc. There's no comparison.